Dreamcatcher
by Ralinde
Summary: Parvati and Lavender's relationship, told in five drabbles. For alyssialui's Five Drabbles Competititon on the HPFC.
1. Vermillion

_Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to JKR._

* * *

"Lavender?" Parvati looked at her long time friend. The vermillion gashes on her body made her fear for the worst. A sob escaped her throat.

An arm was put around her shoulder. "She isn't dead."

"How do you know? Have you seen those wounds?"

"She's still breathing," Padma said and pointed towards Lavender's chest, which was moving very faintly.

"Oh thank Merlin for that!" Parvati exclaimed. "I couldn't imagine a life without her." She paused, hesitant. "I, I like her, Padma. Like, really like her, I think."

Padma gave her reassuring squeeze. "I know."

Parvati was puzzled. How could Padma know, when she had only realised it upon seeing Lavender's body and thinking her dead? She opened her mouth to speak, but Padma said: "I'll try to find Madam Pomfrey. She's dealt with werewolf bites before, though I think Lavender's wounds might best be treated at St Mungo's. You stay with her and tend to her wounds as best as possible, okay?"

Padma was gone before Parvati could say anything in return, but Padma had been one the students tasked with the healing of several members of the DA, so she trusted her sister's judgement.

She tore a part of her school robe and used it to dress the largest of the gashes. "I don't know if you can hear me, Lav, but I'm here, by your side," she whispered. "And I promise to never leave your side again."


	2. Book

Lavender glanced at the window sill, where Parvati sat. She was sleeping, her head resting against the glass. Lavender had awoken from her unconscious state of mind only half an hour ago.

"She's been here every day," the Mediwitch had said, with a nod to Parvati, while she was checking on Lavender. "She or your parents, one of them was always here in case you'd come by. Do you want me to wake her?"

"She looks exhausted," Lavender said. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Six days."

"Six days?!"

The Mediwitch must have read something on her face, because she hesitated before she said: "I'll inform Healer Gregson that you're awake. He'll be with you shortly, okay?"

Lavender had merely nodded. She couldn't exactly remember what had happened to make her end up here, but her father was a Mediwizard so she knew better than to object to anything a Mediwitch said.

That was half an hour ago. Now, Healer Gregson had been to see her and had told her roughly what had happened. He had also said that they didn't exactly know what kind of damage had been done, in the long run. Now that he had gone, Lavender was left to her own thoughts. A part of her wanted to wake Parvati and discuss what she had just heard with her. Another part of her dreaded her reaction. Parvati had been fine with Professor Lupin once she found out, but he was just a teacher. How would she react to her best friend being - what exactly, part-werewolf? What if she didn't want anything to do with her anymore? She couldn't stand the thought of losing her best friend, the girl she (if she was honest with herself) had been crushing on for the past couple of months.

A thud made her look up. The book Parvati had been holding had slid from her lap onto the floor. She saw that Parvati opened her eyes sleepily. As soon as Parvati noticed that Lavender was awake, she jumped up. "Lav! You're awake! Thank Merlin, you had me fearing for the worst!"

Parvati came rushing towards her and hugged her. "I thought I'd lost you forever," she whispered in Lavender's ear.

"No change," she replied meekly. "You're stuck with me for the rest of your life."


	3. Bad Romance

_A/N: Lyrics to the song belong to Lady Gaga._

* * *

"Parvati, are you _sure_ about this?" Lavender asked for the umpteenth time.

Parvati sighed, irritated. "Yes, I'm in this. How many times do I have to tell you before you'll believe me?"

"It's just... I don't know what'll happen. I'm afraid I'll hurt you."

"Hey, look at me," Parvati said. "I know there's a risk and I wouldn't be here if I didn't think our relationship was worth it. I'll stand by you, no matter what."

"Would you, would you still love me if this...disease...would make me ugly?"

"Lav, I chose you. If you get ugly, I want your ugly. I want you, with your disease, I want your everything. I want your love. Just let me love you the way you are."

"You know that I want you," Lavender sighed. "And you know that I need you, but..."

"That settles it then," Parvati interrupted. "You want me, I want you. No but's. Just two people who love each other. We're in this together. Now, are you ready?"

Hesitant, Lavender nodded.

"Alright then, here we go." Parvati pushed opened the heavy curtains. Any minute now, the rays of the moon would shine upon Lavender's face. Parvati sat back on the bed, and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. "I'll never leave you," she whispered.

 _And behind a glass window, a team of Healers waited to see if, and to what degree, the full moon would affect their patient._


	4. Rotten Fish

"Godric, do you smell that?" Parvati wrinkled her nose in disgust as the stench of the harbour reached her nostrils. "It's smells like rotten fish! I guess they washed ashore somewhere around here, don't you think?"

She turned her head to look at her girlfriend, only to find that there was no longer anyone walking beside her.

"Lav?" She turned on her heels. A couple of meters behind her, Lavender was clutching her stomach, and throwing up above the sand.

"Lav, are you alright?" Parvati ran towards her. "What happened?"

Lavender gave a short, mirthless laugh. "It's nearly full moon."

Parvati looked at her, confused.

"If you thought the stench was bad, try experiencing it with enhanced senses," Lavender explained in between retches."It's taking my breath away, so foul."

"Come on, let's get you out of here."

With the support of her lover, Lavender managed to get as far away from the stench as possible. She knew halfway that Parvati couldn't smell it anymore, but to her, it was as present as it had been a couple of minutes ago. It was one of the things Parvati could never fully understand, and that made Lavender sad. But she knew Parvati was trying to understand, and that was more than she could have hoped for.


	5. Surprise

Lavender was nervous. She had been rehearsing this moment over and over in her mind for the last days. Some would say six months was too short to take a decision like that. Others would say they were too young. But although she was nervous for the moment itself, afraid she'd mess up, she couldn't be surer that she wanted to do this. She wanted to marry Parvati, and she knew everything would go well. After all, they had been best friends for seven years and Parvati had stood beside her when her world had seemed to fall apart. It wasn't easy, living with these werewolf-tendencies, but with Parvati at her side Lavender was ready for the future.

She glanced up when the door opened and licked her lips. This was it, this was the moment.

"Why, what's all this?" Parvati exclaimed. "What a lovely surprise!" Her eyes shone and if Lavender wasn't already in love with this wonder of nature, she'd fell in love with her all over again.

A waft of patchouli - Parvati's favourite - reached her nostrils and she suppressed the urge to gag. _Not know_ , she pleaded with some unknown deity, _please._ She managed to control herself and smiled.

"Parvati, the last few months have been better than I could have imagined," she began. "I had been crushing on you since February, but I never dared hope that you'd return my feelings. And now, it's Christmas, and here we both are. We've had a rough year, you and I, mostly because of my condition... Please, let me finish," she smiled when Parvati opened her mouth to object. If we can make it through tough times like these, I'm positive that we can take on the world together, now and in the future. Parvati, darling, will you marry me?"

"Of course I will! I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Good," Lavender murmered and pulled her closer. After all, the best way to seal a marriage, was with a kiss, right?


End file.
